T.C. Bridges

The People of the Chasm

Warsaw 2019

Contents

I. THE RECORD BREAKERS

II. THE HOUSE IN FRANCE

III. FOOTSTEPS IN THE NIGHT

IV. ANDRÉ SHOWS HIS TEETH

V. HOW ANDRÉ WAS TRICKED

VI. ANDRÉ TRIES ONCE MORE

VII. ANDRÉ'S LAST EFFORT

VIII. THE KILLERS

IX. THE GREAT BARRIER

X. MONTY GOES GUNNING

XI. READING THE MESSAGE

XII. THE START

XIII. THE WHIRLSTORM

XIV. OVER THE EDGE

XV. THE LANDING

XVI. THE INHABITANTS OF THE LEDGE

XVII. NIGHTMARE LAND

XVIII. WORSE AND WORSE

XIX. THE BATTLE WITH THE BEAST

XX. THE GREAT GLARE

XXI. TIME TO THINK

XXII. THE REAL RABBIT

XXIII. ANTON AT LAST

XXIV. ANTON'S STORY

XXV. THE PERIL OF THE APES

XXVI. AT CLOSE QUARTERS

XXVII. SLAUGHTER

XXVIII. IN THE MOUTH OF THE CAVERN

XXIX. SAVED BY A SPIDER

XXX. ANTON'S PLAN

XXXI. THE UPPER LEDGE

XXXII. THE HOLE IN THE FLOOR

XXXIII. MONTY'S RUSE

XXXIV. THE LAST STAND

XXXV. THE END OF THE APES

XXXVI. THE CLOSEST CALL

XXXVII. THE GIFT OF GLIJ

I. THE RECORD BREAKERS

AS the great ‘plane roared through the upper air, young Monty Vince sat with his eyes glued to the thick glass window of her enclosed body, and watched the sea of clouds lying like a pearly floor far below. Every nerve in his body tingled with excitement and triumph, for even he, small as was his experience, knew that this first flight of his brother’s new machine was a magnificent success.

On and on she flew, and the cloud floor seeming to sink away told Monty that the great machine was still rising. Earth had long since been lost sight of, even the topmost clouds were far below, and they winged their way in solitary splendour, bathed in the cold sunlight of the upper levels.

Presently Monty noticed something new. The deep, steady roar of the enormously powerful engines seemed to be dropping in tone. It was steady as ever, yet certainly not so loud. Yes, there was no doubt about it, and with a sudden feeling of uneasiness, Monty rose from his seat and went forward to where his brother sat in the pilot seat, his long flexible fingers resting lightly on the delicate controls. Beautiful hands Dick Vince had, almost as fine as any woman’s, but the left was curiously marred by a long white scar which ran back from the second knuckle, disappearing under the sleeve of his pilot’s jacket.

Monty leant over until his lips almost touched the other’s ear. “Dick,” he said, “Dick, what is the matter? Is anything wrong with the engines?”

Dick Vince looked up with a slight, look of surprise. “Why, Monty–why do you think that?”

“Can’t you hear? Don’t you notice there’s not half so much noise?”

Dick smiled, and the smile lit up very pleasantly his keen, clever face and clear, dark eyes. “Yes, I hear it. But that’s only natural, Monty.”

“Why?”

“Because of the height, old chap,” and as he spoke Dick Vince pointed to the barograph, the height-recording instrument which was fixed on the instrument board in front of him.

Monty looked, and his eyes widened. “Good heavens, Dick, you don’t mean to say that we are thirty thousand feet up?” he exclaimed.

“Not quite that, but we soon shall be. Twenty-nine thousand seven hundred is the exact figure.”

“B-but isn’t that a record?”

“If it isn’t it soon will be,” replied Dick, with quiet confidence.

For a minute or so Monty said nothing. The marvels of this wonderful aeroplane rendered him speechless. When at last he spoke again his voice had a note of awe in it. “But I thought that no one could breathe at such a height, Dick. There’s so little air.”

Dick smiled again. “There’s none under water, Monty, yet people go down three hundred feet in submarines.”

Monty considered a little. “Then this is a sort of submarine of the air.”

“Yes. The body is air-tight and almost cold proof. And when we need fresh air I simply turn on a little oxygen.”

Again there was silence for a time, and again it was Monty who broke it. “But, Dick, if there is so little air up here how do the wings get a grip? How does the machine manage to fly at all?”

“That is a matter of construction, Monty. For her power, the Falcon is, I believe, the lightest machine ever built. This new alloy of mine saved a deal of weight, and then, these extension wings make a big difference. I get a lot more bearing surface, which makes up for the lesser density of the air.”

Monty gazed at his brother with whole-hearted admiration. “Dick, I think you’re an absolute marvel,” he declared.

Dick turned to his brother. “The Falcon is a success, Monty,” he said gravely. “There is no boasting in saying that. But I want you to remember that, but for you, she could never have been built.

“No, don’t interrupt me,” he went on quickly, as he saw Monty’s lips move. “I mean what I say. The credit is due to you just as much as to me. If you had not trusted me, if you had not put up the money, it could never have been done.”

Monty shook his head impatiently. “Nonsense, Dick! It’s no credit to me. You see I knew you’d make a go of it.”

“You could not know that,” answered Dick, as gravely as before. “That was impossible. Yet you handed over to me the whole of the legacy that Uncle John left you. As I said before, the Falcon owes her existence as much to you as to me, for if you had not put up the money she would never have been built. People don’t trust a youngster like me with money for new inventions.”

Monty brushed aside his brother’s gratitude with a laugh. “Well, anyhow, she’s a howling success, and since you have made me your partner, we’re both going to make a fortune. What are you going to do with yours, Dick?”

“Explore,” said Dick, quickly. “See parts of the world that no one knows anything about. Fly over the Himalayas and up across the Andes of Bolivia.”

Monty’s eyes shone. “Me, too!” he cried.

“That’s what I’d like best.”

A sudden thought struck Monty, and he came back to Dick. “I say, Dick, where are you coming down?”

“How do you mean? I shall return to the aerodrome at Boltham.”

“But you can’t tell where it is. There is no sign of the earth–nothing but clouds.”

“Yes, but when we dip back through the clouds we shall see the earth again.”

Monty was silent, but somehow not quite easy in his mind. It was his first big ascent, and the loneliness up here oppressed him. It seemed to him that they were cut off completely from everything human.

And still the Falcon’s nose was cocked upwards, and still she rose and rose. The cold outside must have been frightful, for even within the perfectly insulated and electrically heated interior Monty was beginning to shiver. Then quite suddenly the Falcon began to quiver in an odd way.

“What’s the matter?” asked Monty, hastily.

“Wind,” replied Dick, curtly. “We must have run into something pretty stiff. I’ve never struck anything like this before, Monty. It’s a regular hurricane. I shall have to drop out of it. No machine that ever was built could fight it.”

As he spoke he turned the ‘plane completely round, and let her nose point downwards. The difference was amazing. All the fearful stress and strain ceased, and the sense of peace was a delightful change.

There was silence for a little while, then Monty spoke again. “Any idea which way we are travelling?” he asked.

“East, I am thankful to say,” replied his brother.

“We must be a longish way from Boltham,” said Monty.

“We are, I’m afraid, but anyhow, we are not being blown out into the Atlantic.”

“But what price the North Sea, Dick?”

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